Pages

Sunday, April 22, 2012

A New Lens and Some Amazonian Goodies

As a reward for my good grades because my mom wanted another lens for "my" camera a new lens came in the mail the other day.

I got a Nikon D3100 for Christmas that came with a really good, basic lens that works in about every situation you could think of. It's an 18-55mm and has served me well in my photography class this semester. But, whether it be me or my mom, the both of us wanted a nice zoom lens.

And now I'm about to reveal how I do my research for just about any product.

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE......

Enter, Amazon. It's my go-to place for everything. I look up reviews on the most random things. I just bought a pair of Lilly shorts (don't worry they were actually from the Amazon-Lilly store, not some weirdo knock-off) from it.

Electronics to beauty products, ebooks for my kindle to discontinued candy, Amazon has it all.

Anyway, back to my research. Basically I just started searching Nikon lenses and found one that wasn't $1,000 but still had good reviews.

I think other people are realizing that Amazon is an awesome place to get whatever you want. For Christmas, besides getting a super awesome camera, I got 2 $50 Amazon gift cards!

"What should we get Valerie for Christmas?""I don't know. Does she still like Polly Pocket?""She's 15...I don't think so." (actually, Polly Pocket was the coolest thing ever!!!!!)"We could get her a necklace.""Ok, does she wear gold or silver?""Uhhh! I give up let's just get her an Amazon gift card."

So I know some people do not like receiving gift cards because they think they're impersonal. Well, I am NOT one of those people. Honestly, if you don't know what to get me...get me a gift card to a store that I've mentioned I like. Here's a list to make things easier:

Barnes and Noble <----- I have over $200 on my card thanks to the compiling of book cards from birthdays and Christmases past...
J. Crew
Gap
Rugby
Ralph Lauren (if you really want to put A LOT on the card) ;)
Local jewelry stores
Department stores in the area
Amazon... teehee

Just don't, I repeat don't get a me a gift card for Forever 21 unless you want it to sit in my wallet, unused until I finally decide to take 2 hours to sift through junk to find something halfway decent to spend it on.

Anyway, back to the Amazon gift cards. I recently entered a photography contest that my school library was hosting. The contest was to take a library book with you on spring break and take a picture of it. Well, I took mine to Naples, Florida and took a picture of it on the beach. The top 5 pictures either got a movie theater gift card or an Amazon gift card. And thanks to this picture I now have a $15 Amazon gift card! yay!

Oh, and my second choice picture was this one. But, just in case I didn't feel like sharing my beach bod with the librarians...or with the rest of the school (they emailed everyone the winning photos) I decided against it. But, I still think it's cute.

FYI, I did not actually finish start this book. Rather I enjoyed my Harry Potter books and my kindle. But come one, isn't vacation about reading whatever you want??